The story so far …

I have been looking for source documents to link these two families.

Colin CAMPBELL (1)

Colin CAMPBELL[1] of Grove Street married Margaret MIDDLEMISS in Glasgow on 29 December 1916, he cited his father’s name as Peter CAMPBELL (deceased) and his mother’s name and maiden surname as Elizabeth DUNCAN.

Colin CAMPBELL (2)

A fellow genealogist[2] cited this couple as her grandparents but the mother’s name and maiden surname as Elizabeth ANDERSON. They had a son Peter CAMPBELL who married Dorothy Rose BRICE in London. Their descendants now live in San Diego USA.

What I know

Colin CAMPBELL of Grove Street Glasgow appeared in the 1911 Census[3] with his father Peter CAMPBELL and mother Elizabeth, this led to a birth record. Colin CAMPBELL born 16 November 1896, father Peter CAMPBELL, mother Elizabeth ANDERSON. This is Colin (2) and in 1911 he lived in the same street as Colin (1), a close match but not yet close enough.

Next

My next step is to research Peter CAMPBELL. It wasn’t hard to find his birth register in Scotland’s People, he was born[4] at 155 High Craighall Road Glasgow on 22 September 1917 and this date confirmed an unsourced entry in Family Search. This is the son of Colin (2). I am now researching in the modern era where the next census record will not be available until 2021 so without any details about him other than his name, I need to look at other records and search for him in a family unit.

I have access to Ancestry Library, so I did a wide search for Peter with his father and mother, and his son. I used his mother’s married name because I was looking for them as a family. I found a Canada Ocean Arrivals record dated May 1921[5] for Peter CAMPBELL aged 5 years that recorded his nearest relative in the country where he came from as his grandmother Mrs Jessie ANDERSON 124 High Craig St Glasgow. This Peter CAMPBELL is the son of Colin (1).

Next, I found the matching Canadian Passenger List for Colin CAMPBELL[6] and Margaret is listed as having her left hand missing. The family consists of Colin 24, Margaret 21, Peter 5, Jessie 1½, Thomas 1 month, and Jeanie 54, all on the same ticket, and intending to live with Colin’s mother in Toronto Ontario.

This means that Colin (1) also had a son named Peter. This is the second possible link between Colin (1) and Colin (2).

Colin (1) and Colin (2) lived in the same street.

Colin (1) and Colin (2) both had a son named Peter.

Two steps forward, one step back

Colin (2) is the father of Peter, who married Dorothy Rose BRICE in London and whose children live in San Diego, but Colin (1) emigrated to Canada when Peter was 5 years old.

Still using Ancestry Library, I decided to concentrate on Peter and Dorothy and look for their leaving the UK. Now I found a UK Passenger List[7] that recorded them leaving Southampton for Montreal in Canada on 17 May 1952 with Peter 34, Dorothy 31, Dorothy 10, and Jennifer 5.

I also found an application for permanent residence in 1957 for Peter CAMPBELL[8], a citizen of Canada, and his wife Dorothy Rose CAMPBELL, citing the same date of birth as Colin (2)’s Peter

So, now I have three Peter’s.

Peter (1), the son of Colin (2) emigrated to Toronto in Canada aged 5.

Peter (2), who married Dorothy and emigrated with two children to Montreal in Canada.

Peter (3), a Canadian national who applied for US permanent residence with his wife Dorothy Rose, with the same birthday as Peter (12).

For these two Colin’s and three Peter’s to be the same family, then Peter CAMPBELL had to have:

Emigrated to Canada in 1921

Returned to England

Married Dorothy Rose Brice had two children

Emigrated to Canada in 1952

Emigrated to the US in 1957

I am pedantic in keeping written a record in my Family History Workbook[9] AS I GO as well as numbering and transcribing the documents I find into a spreadsheet AS I GO. When my mind has turned to spaghetti as is common when investigating an interesting member of the family tree, I might remember a minute detail, but I can return to these documents to find out when and where I found it or if I just imagined it. This is what happened yesterday.

The final resolution

In all these records there was one unique clue, I could have missed it but as I said I am pedantic. (I have also been using this blog to unravel this puzzle in a narrative way.) Peter (1)’s mother Margaret is listed in the Canadian Passenger List as having her left hand missing. Confirming whether Jean’s grandmother was missing her left hand or not, would finally link or unlink Colin (1) and (2).

This is the chase. it is the bit that keeps genealogists genealog-ing. I messaged Jean on Family Search and hoped against hope that she hadn’t found something else to do so she would answer quickly. To my very pleasant surprise, I received an answer in a few hours (my midnight sojourn closing the time gap to her midnight sojourn).

“Yes. It was her left hand and when I was little I thought she had ut it off by a sewing machine.”

She also confirmed that her father had returned to England and joined the RAF then emigrated to Canada in 1952. Thank you, Jean! Now I can finally start entering this data in the family tree.

[8]National Archives at Riverside; Riverside, California; NAI Number: 603760; Record Group Title: 21; Record Group Number: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009, 1957, Declaration No 552, Peter Campbell. (https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.au: accessed 8 October 2018)

What happens if there is an error in an original source document? When Colin CAMPBELL and Margaret MIDDLEMISS married[1], Colin’s father was listed as Peter CAMPBELL and his mother was listed as Elizabeth CAMPBELL M.S. DUNCAN.

A descendant of his[2] gave his mother’s maiden name as ANDERSON which raises two questions:

Could there be another Colin CAMPBELL married to another Margaret MIDDLEMISS?

Could the information in the Marriage Register is a mistake?

First, I checked ScotlandsPeople for his parents’ marriage (Peter CAMPBELL and Elizabeth DUNCAN) between 1876 and 1896 which is ten years either side of Colin’s estimated birth year (20 when married in 1916). This returned no records. This doesn’t rule out the possibility that Colin was illegitimate.

Second, I searched for Colin’s birth record between 1895 and 1897 and restricted it to the County of Lanark where they were married because CAMPBELL is a common name. This returned seven index records, but I had no way to differentiate between them.

Next, I searched for a Census record. The nearest available Census date was 1911 so I searched for Colin CAMPBELL aged between 13 and 15, restricted again to Lanark. It returned a single record[3]: in the district of Milton at 17 Grove Street, Glasgow, that showed a Peter CAMPBELL aged 47, and his wife Eliza aged 46, with children Elizabeth 20, Walter 17, Colin 14, and Alexander 5; all were born in Lanarkshire. This is the same street where he lived when he was married six years later, and I have researched enough of my Glasgow ancestors to know that it was common for families to frequently move and often only a few doors along the street. This could be the same Colin CAMPBELL, father Peter and mother Elizabeth.

I returned to the birth records where two of the seven were in Milton, but one had a middle name and Colin did not, so I chose to purchase that record. This was Colin CAMPBELL[4], born 16 November 1896, father Peter CAMPBELL, mother Elizabeth CAMPBELL maiden surname ANDERSON.

Jean’s father was Peter CAMPBELL, son of Colin CAMPBELL and Elizabeth ANDERSON. I am still not convinced that these two families actually the same people. CAMPBELL is a very common Scottish name, so is Elizabeth and Peter, and Glasgow in 1896 was very densely populated, there could still be two Colin CAMPBELL’s with a father called Peter, a mother called Elizabeth, and a son called Peter.

So, I have not yet answered either of the two questions. My next step is to research Peter to see if he provides any clues.

I love it when people contact me through one of my family tree sites and connect their family tree to mine. This happened a couple of weeks ago through FamilySearch. Jean appears to be my second cousin; her grandmother and my grandmother could be sisters. I say appears and could because I am yet to connect all the source information together.

It begins with Thomas MIDDLEMISS (FamilySearch entry) or (WikiTree entry). He married Jessie Jane ANDERSON and they had six children, Grace Hay MIDDLEMISS is my grandmother and Margaret MIDDLEMISS is Jean’s grandmother.

Whenever it’s possible, I like to fill in all the brothers and sisters for all my ancestors, when I have a bit of spending money and some time to spare. Recently I started to fill in the marriages for the children of Thomas MIDDLEMISS. I added, amongst others, Colin CAMPBELL[1] as the spouse of Margaret MIDDLEMISS, and this is what brought Jean into contact[2]. Jean told me that Margaret had a son Peter CAMPBELL, who was her father.

My method for entering collateral people (those not in my direct line) begins with a marriage record, so for Margaret MIDDLEMISS, I had created Colin CAMPBELL from the marriage record, then continued finding marriages for each of the MIDDLEMISS children. My next step is to return to the new person and fill in their parents, again from the marriage record. I had not reached this next stage when I received Jean’s message.

Next, I made a mistake. I merged my Colin CAMPBELL (L1TQ-4VH) with Jean’s (L1BL-LJF) before I had added Colin’s parents. Too late I discovered that his marriage certificate listed his mother’s maiden name as Elizabeth DUNCAN, but Jean listed his mother’s maiden name as Elizabeth ANDERSON. I had no choice but to undo the merge and begin researching Colin CAMPBELL again from the beginning.

Beginning again / starting over, is a good quality for a genealogist. Sometimes I just need to relearn a pre-learnt skill. I cannot resist a good genealogical mystery. I’ll be back

I have been wanting to revise this site because the previous theme did not allow for a specialised mobile view. In mobile view, it was cumbersome and unfriendly. This theme comes with a mobile-friendly version.

I was hoping to find a theme that separated posts by page instead of the mile-long feed I currently have. That has been a trade-off between the clean lines of this and the previous theme, and the more cluttered front page of other designs. I have opted to continue with simple clean lines of this new theme.

I also added two menu items for easier navigation, you can now navigate to every mention of a family name or a particular family member. You can also navigate to posts based on a theme. Don’t miss the tags at the bottom of the page for other interesting topics. I also plan to update my “About” page very soon.

Lastly, I changed the name of the site from “Georgina’s Family” to “Genealogy Galore” hoping that it will be more search engine friendly and attract more visitors.

Feel free to comment on the design and any other aspect of my blog. Your comments are much appreciated.

Biography

Birth and early life

Bill Harvey was born on 29 January 1923 in Subiaco, Western Australia[1] to Harry Charles Harvey and Esther Muriel Langridge, the second son of four children. At that time, his parents lived with his paternal grandmother Annie Harvey in Geraldton[2], it is likely that his mother travelled to Subiaco, a suburb of the capital city Perth to give birth. as the two largest hospitals where women commonly gave birth were both located there. His family continued to live in Geraldton though no longer in his grandmother’s house[3], but by 1937, they had moved to the capital city[4].

World War II service

On 30 January 1943 Bill enlisted in the Australian Army and was allocated the service number WX36377[5]. He served until 14 December 1945 during which time he met Lenore Henderson, they married in Broadview, South Australia, on 10 September, just prior to being discharged[6].

Work and Family

Bill and Lenore moved to Western Australia. By 1949 they had three children, all boys and were living a few houses from Bill’s parents in Mount Hawthorne[7], Bill listed his occupation as a radio mechanic.

By 1954, they are living in Karri Hill Road, Northcliffe[8], a small south-west township. This is one of several Western Australian locations for post-WWII soldier settlement scheme tobacco farming. Bill and Lenore spoke of running a tobacco farm for a short time, the scheme was not successful. This is likely the place and time of this family story because Bill has listed his occupation as farmer. (References needed for WWII soldier settlement scheme and government-sponsored tobacco farms). They now had five children, three boys followed by two girls. In 1958 they were living in the nearby town of Manjimup, Bill had returned to being a radio mechanic, and they had another girl.

By 1963 they were homeowners in High Wycombe[9], a new subdivision in the foothills of Perth. High Wycombe was a considerable distance away from the Perth CBD and surrounded by bushlands, more of a village than a suburb. They had the last two of their eight children, both girls, and the eldest boy was now sixteen years old. He would leave shortly after to join the Australian Airforce.

Bill and the family were able to settle there for many years appearing in the electoral rolls in 1968[10] 1972[11], and 1977[12]. Work took Bill to many places, within and outside of Australia, in 1963 he appears both in High Wycombe and in Carnarvon and not at all in 1968.

Retirement and later life

By late 1970’s Bill’s health had deteriorated due to a neck injury he sustained at work some years before (he fell down the hold of a ship). He and Lenore moved to Mount Magnet where they lived in a caravan and prospected in the tailings of old gold mines[13]. In 1988 he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of stomach cancer and died on 4 November of the same year and is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery[14]. He was survived by his wife, eight children, and twelve grandchildren

Bill Harvey served in the Australian Army in World War II
Enlisted: 30 01 1943
Regiment/Unit: 2nd AIF
Discharged: 14 12 1945

Bill Harvey is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Australian Citizen Military Forces
as a searchlight operator in Australia

Biography

Birth and early life

World War II Service

On 8 February 1943, she enlisted in the Australian Army, Citizen Military Forces[2] and was allocated the service number SF113003[3]. She operated searchlights and made a number of life-long friends. She met Bill Harvey and they married on 10 September 1945[4], and she was discharged shortly after on 8 November.

Family

Bill and Lenore moved to Western Australia. By 1949 they had three children, all boys and were living a few houses from Bill’s parents in Mount Hawthorne[5].

By 1954, they are living in Karri Hill Road, Northcliffe[6], a small south-west township. This is one of several Western Australian locations for post-WWII soldier settlement scheme tobacco farming. Bill and Lenore spoke of running a tobacco farm for a short time, the scheme was not successful. This is likely the place and time of this family story because Bill has listed his occupation as farmer. (References needed for WWII soldier settlement scheme and government-sponsored tobacco farms). They now had five children, three boys followed by two girls. In 1958 they were living in the nearby town of Manjimup, Bill had returned to being a radio mechanic, and they had another girl.

By 1963 they were homeowners in High Wycombe[7], a new subdivision in the foothills of Perth. High Wycombe was a considerable distance away from the Perth CBD and surrounded by bushlands, more of a village than a suburb. They had the last two of their eight children, both girls, and the eldest boy was now sixteen years old. He would leave shortly after to join the Australian Airforce.

Lenore and the family were able to settle there for many years appearing on the electoral rolls in 1968[8]1972[9], and 1977[10]. Bill worked away more often than locally, both within and outside of Australia, in 1963 he appears both in High Wycombe and in Carnarvon and not at all in 1968. This left Lenore to care for their many children alone.

Later life

By late 1970’s Bill’s health had deteriorated due to a neck injury he sustained at work some years before (he fell down the hold of a ship). They moved to Mount Magnet where they lived in a caravan and Bill pursued his hobby, prospecting in the tailings of old gold mines[11]. In 1988 he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of stomach cancer and died on 4 November of the same year and is buried in Karrakatta Cemetery[12].

Lenore lived independently for most of the next twenty-eight years, staying with her children from time-to-time. She died on 26 September 2016[13]. She is not buried with Bill because the grant for his plot had expired, she was cremated instead. She was survived by seven of her eight children, fourteen grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren.

Lenore (Henderson) Harvey served in the Australian Army in World War II
Enlisted: 08 02 1943
Regiment/Unit: Citizen Military Forces
Discharged: 08 11 1945

Lenore (Henderson) Harvey is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Australian Citizen Military Forces
as a searchlight operator in Australia

Born and raised in the South Australian country, an early volunteer, Basil Henderson appears to fit the classic, bronzed, Australian stereotype. Long silences in his army records speak volumes about his character and fitness for service. Waves of diarrhea, diphtheria, and venereal disease, plagued other soldiers. He fought in rocky, hillside trenches in Gallipoli and flat, muddy trenches France, slowly advancing from private to sergeant. His service was ended abruptly, a few months before armistice when he was wounded for a second time, in an action that earned him a Distinguished Conduct Medal. One brother was killed in action, another wounded and disabled, and his mother died within months of war’s end. He returned a hero to a different world, and appears to have coped. Stoic, is the word that comes to mind.

Basil Lowingham Henderson was born 12 May 1891 on the family farm in Muloowurtie, Daly, South Australia,[1] the eighth child of ten. His family was well known in the small community of Ardrossan, his parents having owned the General Store for many years before taking up farming.[2] At a time when every town had its own local newspaper, the Henderson’s lives are surprisingly well documented.

As one of the people on whom the modern “ANZAC legend” is based, Basil could be said to fit the stereotype. At the age of two, he went missing from the farm, the whole district engaged in the search for him, and when he was found some twenty-three hours later it was reported that “… having been warmed up and refreshed with some food one of the search party had with him, he became quite merry and talkative.”[3] At the age of eleven he was bitten by a snake whilst rabbit hunting, he chopped off a piece of his thumb with snake still attached, this time he was reported to be “plucky”.[4] His eldest brother died when Basil was three,[5] and his father was killed in a farm accident when Basil was seventeen,[6] so he was no stranger to death. On enlistment, he was five feet, seven and a half inches (171 cm) in height, of medium dark complexion, and 161 pounds (73 kg) in weight.[7] It could be said, therefore that Basil was tall, bronzed, independent, and of strong character.

On 4 August 1914 when war was declared in the Britain[8] the nine surviving Hendersons, two females and seven males, were aged from 15 to 32 years old, none were married. Basil was 23. In October 1914, his brother George, enlisted at Morphetville, South Australia, aged 26.[9] Basil joined on 30 January 1915 in Ennogra, Queensland, where he listed himself as a farmer.[10] Surprisingly, he was pipped to the post by his younger brother Leonard, who enlisted in Oaklands, South Australia at the age of 15 years and nine months, by passing himself off as being 21.[11] The enlisting officer could hardly be blamed for being fooled as Leonard was six feet and half an inch (184cm) tall.[12] The three eldest, aged 32, 30 and 29, never enlisted which is not surprising as most soldier volunteers were aged between 18 and 25, with 21 being the most common age.[13]

Basil embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT A15 Star of England.[14] There is no record of his disembarkation port, his record states only that on 26 May he joined ANZAC, and no further record until he disembarked in Alexandria from Murdos on 4 January 1916.[15] It is not surprising that there are no records for this period. It is common knowledge that Gallipoli was a steep, rocky terrain, backed only by sea, and completely outside the scope of British and allied lands. There was no bureaucracy to record the minutiae of individual service, and the peninsular was being furiously defended by the Turks.

It is only possible to browse through the diaries of the 9th Battalion and gain an overview of what kind of situation Basil was in during this time. There is also no mention in battalion diary of 4th reinforcement’s arrival[16] although 5th reinforcements are mentioned in June.[17] It is therefore safe to assume that Basil was in Gallipoli by the beginning of June and his experience in Gallipoli was like others of the 9th Battalion.

In June, they were supplying fatigue parties to help dig trenches as casualties during the day were too great, followed by attempting to retrieve bodies under heavy rifle fire.[18] In July, they were rotated to front line, Cholera Inoculations began. Platoons were being taken to the beach for a swim, there were three cases of men cutting or shooting off fingers hoping, unsuccessfully, to get evacuated to hospital, and by the end of the month diarrhea was prevalent.[19]

August,[20] September[21] and October[22] was a continuous cycle of heavy fighting interspersed with quiet days, sick leaving and returning as troops and officers were infected with amoebic dysentery reducing the strength of the battalion. To top off the month of October, there was a very close encounter with a Turkish digging party, and a fierce storm that damaged piers on the beach.

At the beginning of November,[23] they rotated off the front lines and were sent on a bivouac. On November 16 they embarked SS Abassiah for Lemnos. They spent the rest of November and then December[24] training and regrouping. It was cold and snowing, the soldiers did not have enough warm clothing or blankets. Another outbreak of diphtheria in the beginning of December caused Battalion to be quarantined, their health gradually improved and they began to organise sports and entertainments. The quarantine was lifted and on 31 December and they embarked the Grampian for Alexandria.

In January 1916, Basil was disciplined for being in Lagazig without a pass. In February, his brother Edward enlisted in Adelaide.[25] Basil was transferred, first to 49th Battalion, then in March to 4th Division Artillery, as gunner, and finally to 11th Field Artilliary Brigade, mustered and posted 4S Battery. In April, he was promoted to Bombardier. All this was still in Egypt.[26]

In June, he joined the British Expeditionary Forces on the 10th, he disembarked Haverford in Marseilles, and by the 26th, was promoted in the field France, to Corporal. There being nothing in his record, we must assume he spent the next seven months fighting in France, beginning in summer through to the harshest winter in Europe for forty years.[27]

It was now January 1917, and the Sarah Henderson had four sons on active service. For two years, there had been no serious incidents, but all that was about to change. The youngest brother, Leonard, who had been in service in France for as long as Basil, was hospitalised for two weeks in early January for “debility”.[28] On 28 January 2017, another brother Edward was killed in action[29] and buried in a makeshift graveyard in Le Boeufs, three miles south of Bapaume, in France.[30] In February, Basil was promoted in the field in Belgium to Seargent.[31]

On 10 June, George was seriously wounded in action in Belgium, a gunshot wound to left hand and leg, and transferred to England for hospitalisation.[32] It is only fair to assume that Basil was aware of all this. In August, Basil is recorded as being hospitalised sick then, soon after, being hospitalised again for an illness whilst on his way to England for leave. Although it does not record what illness he had, it is the first time he is recorded as having any kind of illness.[33] He was certainly a healthy, hardy man.

September 25, Basil was seriously wounded in action in France, a gunshot wound to leg and head, and transferred to England for hospitalisation, his mother was notified. Throughout 1917, Sarah Henderson is kept informed about her sons’ progress with short proforma letters using formal phrases, “advised to hospital”, “advised progressing favourably”, “advised convalescent”.

In January 1918, Basil returned to duties in France,[34] and George was discharged with a disability pension of 15 shillings per week, and returned to Australia.[35] He arrived home in March, to flags, school children and foundry worker’s in a guard of honour, and speeches.[36]

Only a few days later, on 5 April, Basil was wounded in action for the second time, a gunshot wound to right elbow, left leg and knee. The letters to his mother started up another round, she must have dreaded visiting the post office. On 12 May Basil was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.[37] He spent the last three months of the war and many months after, recuperating in hospital. His mother Sarah, died unexpectedly during this time, she survived the war by only a few months, and died on 2 January, 1919. His brother, still under 21 managed to serve throughout the war, a sprained ankle being his only injury.

Basil returned home on May 17, and Leonard on May 31. They each had a hero’s welcome. Life appears to have returned to the rhythm of rural life. Basil married, had children, and was not mentioned in the newspaper again until he, and two companions had a narrow escape in a cart accident.

Without any personal papers, it is not possible to imagine how Basil, or any of his brothers coped with their experience of the war. War veterans rarely if ever speak of these things. Once again, it is the silence in the records that imply Basil’s stoic character.